Method of making titanium and other alloys.



E. KRAUS. METHOD OF MAKING TITANIUM AND OTHER ALLOYS. APPLICATION FILED D30. 8, 1911.

1,089,773, I Patented Mar. 10, 191i Witnesses: I Inventor:

{M Ernest Kraus, I

' the reduction of highly refractory and difliv U ITED STATES PATENT oEEicE.

EENEsT Knees, oE LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To GENERAL ELECTRIG' company A'GORPOBATION OF NEW YORK. f

METHOD o AKINe TITANIUM AND OTHER ALLoys.

To all 10710121. it may concern Be it known that I, ERNEST KRAUS, a subect of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary,

residing at Lynn, inthe countyof Essex,

State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Making Titanium and other Alloys,-of which the following is a specification.

- Various methods have been suggested for eultly reducible metals such as titanium, vanadium, uranium and the like and the production of their alloys with aluminium, copper and other metals but thesemethods when they produce a fusedregulus of metal, result only in alloys-low intitanium content and when alloys high in titanium content are produced it is only in the form ofgrains of metal disseminated throughout the reduction mass. 1 v 7 By myimproved process a fused 'regulus or ngot of metal is secured contalmng the refractory metals in hitherto unattainable percentages. In accordance with said invention a m xture of a reducible compound of the highly refractory metal, such as the oxid, v

and a'reducing agent is fed into an are or the compound ofthe refractory metal is itself fused by means of an arc and the reducing metal is fed into the fusion. The reduction product will vary with the amount and proportion of the reacting materials,

and the temperature at which the reaction takes place. When it is desired to produce alloys containingvmetals taking no part in the. reaction, for example, a copper-aluminium titanium,'the inert alloying metal is introduced with the reducing metal.

I will explain my invention as applied to the reduction of titanium and the formation of aluminium-titanium and copper-alumini-v uni-titanium alloys but Wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited to the reduction of this articular metal and the formation of its a loys;

The accompanying drawingillustrates somewhat diagrammatically one form of apparatus for carrying out-my 1nvent1on.

According to one form of my new process an intimate mixture of a compound of the refractory metal, and a reducing metaljsuch as aluminum is fed into an are already formed between the water-cooled cruc ble 1,

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 8, 1911.

consist of T1()-,, I prefer to employ an electrode con-- Patented Mar. 10,1914. Serial'No. 664,595.

.- consisting conveniently of iron and'an elec trode 2 regulable by vmeans of rack and pinion 3. This electrode in many cases may graphite. When reducing titania,

sisting largely of about 75% of titanium suboxid and about 25% carbid. This mixture is packed into a carbon or graphite tube and fired at ab0ut2000" C. The tube is preferably closed during the firing treatment.

The oxid melts, reduction takes place, and the reduced metal sinks to the bottom of the crucible formin a fused regulus or ingot of metal. The re uced metal alloys with the reducing metal in proportions depending upon the temperature and the proportions of the original mixture. 17Vhen working with large amounts higher temperatures and higher percentages of refractory metal in the alloy are obtained.

When working with mixtures ofv titania and aluminum it is possible to easily obtain alloys containing about 94% of tita nium. If desired other metals may be alloyed with the titanium alloy by adding the metal or its oxid to the reduction mixture. For example, alloys of titanium and copper containing-some aluminum may be prepared by adding copper, preferably in the form of its alloy with aluminum.

According to a modified procedure, the compound of the refractory metal is first introduced into the arc and melted thereby and the reducing metal either alone or mixed with some other metal is charged intothe melt. For example, if an alloy of 50% copper with 50% titanium -is desired, an alloy consistin fused oxid of titanium.' AS the copperaluminum alloyis heavier than the sed oxid, it sinks and insures a reaction under a protectivelayer of oxid. In this same manner, an. alloy of titanium and aluminum maybe charged into melted titanium oxid to reduce the proportion of aluminum in the alloy. Additional titanium is set free byreduction of the oxid with aluminum in the I alloy.

What I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

of 144 parts of copper 108' parts of alummum is charged into the .1. The process which consists in electrically fusing a compound of a highl refractory metal, and introducing into sald fusion a metal the heat of formation of the corresponding compound of which is greater than that of said refractory metal, thereby reducing said highly refractory metal compound to the'metallic state, and continuing to develop heat electrically in said fusion to produce a fused ingot of metal.

2. The process which consists in fusing an oxid of a highly refractory metal and introducing into said fusion a metal the heat of formation of whose oxid is'greater than that of the oxid of said refractory metal whereby reduction of the refractory oXid takes place with the formation of an ingot of metal.

8. The process which consists in fusing the oxid of titanium and introducing aluminium into said fusion, thereby reducing part of said oxid and producing an ingot of titanium and aluminium alloy.

4. The process which consists in fus ng titanium oxid and introducing a reducing metal into the fusion, thereoy reducing the titanium to the metallic state and causing it "to unite to the form of ingot.

. 5. The process of reducing" titanium which consists in melting a reducible com-.

pound of titanium and adding a reducing agent while maintaining the said compound in fusion.

In witness whereof, I have-hereunto set my hand this sixth day of December 1911.

I ERNEST KRAUS. Witnesses:

J OHN A. MCMANUS, J r., FRANK G. HATTIE. 

